Former wine chief dies alongside wife

The British cancer patient who ended his life alongside his wife at a voluntary euthanasia clinic in Switzerland had been the secretary general of the Wine Guild of the United Kingdom, it has emerged.

Peter Duff held the position from 1984-1989 and was also chairman of alcohol in moderation from March 2001.

His family said that both he and his wife Penelope Duff, from Bath in Somerset, died at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich on February 27. Mr Duff, 80, was suffering from colon and liver cancer and his 70-year-old wife had been suffering from a rare form of the disease Gist (gastrointestinal stromal tumour) since 1992.

A family statement said: "Peter and Penny Duff passed away peacefully together in Zurich. after a long battle against their terminal cancer. Their decision in no way reflected on the wonderful and humbling care they have received from their consultant, doctors and nurses."